The longer days of summer bring more time to spend outdoors– playing, exploring, and learning! In this article, we share some fun summer activities, from science experiments to art projects, to enjoy with the children in your care. At the end of the article, you’ll find a few reminders for staying safe and comfortable on hot, sunny days.
Image & activity idea from
Little Pine Learners
Creating a nature sensory bottle is an outdoor activity that brings calm enjoyment on even hot summer days. Hunting for natural items is an engaging, relaxing experience, and the finished bottles will make a beautiful display in your classroom.
To set up this activity, fill bottles or jars with water and then place the children’s collected nature finds into the jars. Click here to find more information about enjoying this simple activity.
Image & activity idea from
What Can We Do With Paper and Glue
You might not have a pool outside of your classroom, but you can still enjoy pool toys in fun and unique ways that celebrate the spirit of summer. This activity is simple to set up and provides a great opportunity for children to explore textures, patterns, colors, and shapes by using pool noodles in new and different ways.
All you will need for this process art activity is a few pool noodles (if you don’t have any available, you can usually find them at the dollar store), paint, and a roll of paper. To set up the activity, cut the noodles into small pieces and squirt some paint onto paper plates.
Click here for more details and ideas for creating unique artwork with pool noodles!
Image & activity idea from
Frugal Fun 4 Boys
The hot weather provides an ideal opportunity to learn about the way that heat affects different types of objects. Select a variety of items (item suggestions below) and place each one in its own spot in a cupcake tin. Place the tin outdoors in the sun, where children can observe the process of melting and engage in conversation about the differences they see– some items melt quickly, some take longer, and some won’t melt at all. For deeper learning, ask children to make some hypotheses about which items will melt first. You might prepare a chart that you and the children can use to track results. Click here for more detailed information about setting up this activity.
Here are a few different items that you might use for your experiment (the key will be to select a variety of different materials so that children can observe differences):
Image & activity idea from
Preschool Plan-It.
For this art project, you’ll need different colors of paint, large sheets of paper, and a lot of lemons – you might consider asking parents to donate a few lemons if they are able. Cut the lemons in half early in the day and set them aside to dry out slightly before you begin the project. The children will create designs by dipping the lemons into paint and then pressing the lemon onto the paper. You can use a variety of paint colors, or stick with yellow and pink for a lemonade theme. Other citrus fruits, like oranges and limes, will also work well! Click here for more information about this project.
And, if there are any unused lemons, you and the children can make homemade lemonade. The children will love helping by squeezing the lemons!
For more summertime learning fun, please visit these G2K articles:
Summertime STEM: Discovering the Sun with Activities & Science Experiments
5 Simple Outdoor Activities for End-of-summer Preschool Fun
Remember sun safety. Enjoying the warm weather can be a lot of fun, but it’s important to remember sun safety, so you’ll want to be sure children wear sunscreen, hats, or other protection when spending time outdoors. As the weather warms up, you might consider doing a check of your sunscreen basket to ensure that every child has enough sunscreen to last through the season.
Don’t forget the H2O! During the warmer months, hydration is especially important. Encourage children to take water breaks regularly so that their bodies stay healthy and hydrated.
Have some extra clothes handy. On particularly warm days, the children in your care might enjoy water play to cool down. Before doing any activities that will get children wet, be sure that every child has a change of clothes available to switch into after the water activity. This will help avoid children having to spend too much time in uncomfortable, wet clothing.
